My husband, Tom, was away for two months, and I was working at home for the time being. I
started researching how to increase our chances of conceiving. This was the best time because I
had more time working at home, and Tom was not around. I wanted answers and knew I
wouldn’t get pregnant while he was away, so I decided to research how to change my lifestyle and
Tom’s once he got home.

For the Woman and the Man

Books

I got the book Taking Charge of your Fertility by Toni Weschler. I started reading it immediately
and was shocked at how much I didn’t know. I had so many thoughts going through my head. I
wish I had learned about this book sooner; I wish I got off birth more shortly; why did I go on
birth control to begin with? All of these things crossed my mind, but then I realized everything
happens for a reason, and there was a reason I am going through infertility. This book taught me
how to track my cycle, my cervical discharge, how to avoid pregnancy naturally, and how to get
pregnant.

It talks about PCOS, endometriosis, natural ways to balance your hormones, preserving your
fertility, miscarriages, and more. I was reading and couldn’t put the book down.
While Tom was away, I took all the book’s advice to track my fertility. Following your cervical
discharge took about three months, and I used my Flo app to track everything. The app gives you
graphs of what you observe. In April, I didn’t follow. I took a break since Tom was gone and just
started reading the book. Here is what my graph looks like.

Another great read is It Starts with the Egg. This book taught me about egg quality, not quantity,
for women. Eating healthy and taking toxins out of your life. For the man, it taught me to have
Tom not go in hot tubs, take hot showers, leave his phone in his front pocket (Tom ALWAYS
does this), and eat healthily.

Women put so much stress on themselves because they think it is them that is the problem, but it
takes two people, and each person has equal parts in making a baby.

Podcast

Fertility Friday

I had never been into podcasts, Tom listens to them all the time, but I never did. I decided to start
listening to one. The first one I came across was “Fertility Friday” on the apple podcast app. In my
opinion, Lisa Hendrickson-Jack is the most intelligent person EVER! I love listening to her and all
the advice she gives. Check her out if you need a good podcast to listen to that has to do with your
fertility.

As a Woman

Once I realized nothing was wrong with Tom or me, I wanted to research IUI and IVF to prepare
my mind as much as possible. As a Woman by Natalie Crawford, an MD, explains the process of
IUI and IVF. It made me feel better and set my mind at ease if we needed to go this route. If you
are unsure about starting IUI or IVF, I highly recommend listening to her; she also has a great
episode on what to ask your fertility doctor and explains the whole process of IUI and IVF.
Environmental Toxins

After reading the books and listening to podcasts, the one thing that was the same was getting rid
of environmental toxins. You cannot live utterly environmental toxin-free, but you can do a lot to
change how you live.

Self Care products

Tackling my makeup gave me a little anxiety. I love my makeup, and I haven’t changed it in years. I
didn’t want any harmful toxins going into my skin, so I decided to make any necessary changes. I
discovered an app called Think Dirty. You can scan the product or put search, and it will tell you
what is in the product.

I changed all my moisturizers to Tula (https://www.tula.com/#). I am actually in love with Tula
and am so glad I switched. Not only is it good for your skin, but it has made my skin look so
much better. It has superfoods, and it just makes my skin look much healthier and younger. My
makeup did not get bad results, so I kept it.

I also changed our body wash, shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant to Native
(https://www.nativecos.com). I highly recommend this brand. You can get all sorts of scents and
read the ingredients. Tom even loves it! We both have susceptible skin, which does not bother us
at all!

Kitchen

I tackled the kitchen first. This can get very expensive, and I did this over time by getting rid of
environmental toxins in the kitchen. I threw away all plastic in the kitchen. Plastic contains BPA
and can leak through your food if you heat it. I decided to only use glass containers
(https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Storage-Containers-Lids-13-Pack/dp/B075P1XHRR), glass
cups, bowls, and plates. We now have nothing plastic in our house.
The next thing was pots and pans. We cook a lot at home, so I wanted to be as safe as possible
when picking up our pots and pans. I researched mine, which is the Tri-ply Stainless Steel
Cookware Set. I love these pans and was so happy I was already using good pans, so I did not
have to get rid of them. We also own Le Creuset cast iron dutch oven (https://www.williamssonoma.com/products/le-creuset-signature-oval-dutch-oven/?pkey=cle-creuset-cast-iron); we
love using this for soup, chili, and even roasts. I remember when I had just gotten out of college
and wanted a nice nonstick pan set. Well, I got one, but after a lot of reading, I found out that they
are not suitable for you and can cause cancer and infertility. I did not think anything of this then,
but as soon as we got married, I got rid of all those and started using my stainless steel pots and
pans.

Cleaning Products and Detergents

I started seeing ads on Facebook for Grove Collaborative (https://www.grove.co/home/). This
was an excellent opportunity to switch over to the kitchen cleaners. I do not like subscriptions, but
I decided to sign up. This has been the best thing for me. Everything gets delivered to the house,
and I can schedule when I need my next order and constantly change my order. I switched the
soaps in the kitchen, including the hand soap, dish soap, dishwasher soap, and toxic cleaning
supplies. I replaced them with Mrs. Meyers’s hand and dish soap
(https://www.grove.co/catalog/?q=mrs%20meyers). Seventh generation dishwasher and laundry
detergent (https://www.grove.co/catalog/?q=seventh%20generation), and I love Aunt Fannie’s
floor and all-purpose cleaner (https://www.grove.co/catalog/?q=aunt%20fannies).

Food

We decided to go all organic. We always cook at home and don’t buy boxed food, but Tom and I
were never good at purchasing organic foods. This changed; we started buying everything organic
so that everything was fresh. When we would go out, we obviously couldn’t be entirely organic,
but we would try to eat as healthy as possible when out to eat. In one of the podcasts, As a
Woman, I learned that you should eat fats. I always cut our fats in my diet. I started buying whole
milk yogurt and eating more eggs, nuts, and seeds. We always bought grass-fed butter, so I always
tried to use that butter. I always ate these in moderation, but I kept telling myself that healthy fats
are what you need to conceive.

I also started a garden. What better way to eat healthy than to grow your food. I had never had a
garden before, so this was new. I researched and used this website to help me l
(https://www.almanac.com/vegetable-gardening-for-beginners). This helped me with the size,
what vegetables are compatible with each other, and when I should plant them in my region.
I started with herbs (basil, parsley, rosemary, oregano, and lavender). I put the herbs in little pots
and hung them on a wall outside our house. This was right outside our kitchen, so I could just
walk out the door and grab what herbs I needed.

Tom made a small garden bed for me. I planted tomatoes, peppers, jalapenos, and cucumbers.
Make sure you use organic soil. I couldn’t believe how fast everything was growing. I grew
vegetables! It was so satisfying. I would make fresh salsa and eat the tomatoes with balsamic and a
little cheese; we had stuffed peppers for dinner. It was great, and it cut down on our grocery bill
because I wasn’t buying these vegetables at the grocery store. If you are up for it, start a garden, it
was so worth it.

I started making a smoothie each morning. I wanted to get as many greens into my body as
possible. I started drinking. Tom thought it was gross. He would make his smoothie.

My Smoothie:

1 cup spinach or kale
1/2 lemon juice
1TBS Tumeric
1TBS ginger root (peeled)
1TBS flax seed or chia seeds
1 cup frozen mango (sometimes I would use pineapple or banana)
1 small celery stalk
1 hand full of ice cubes
1 cup water ( I also added a splash of almond milk)
Tom’s Smoothie:
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup whole milk yogurt
1 cup fruit (blueberries, strawberries, mango, pineapple)
1 banana
1TBS flax seed or chia seeds
ice cubes

For both smoothies, throw all ingredients in a blender, blend them up and pour in a glass, and ENJOY!

These changes, I believe, had something to do with helping Tom and I conceive, but we also had
to go through 3 failed IUI’s. We started IVF, and we were in the IVF priming stage, and we did
get pregnant! I believe it does take a couple of months for your body to regulate and get all the
harmful toxins out. While we were changing our lifestyles through the IUI, I believe our bodies
weren’t clean, which is why the IUI didn’t work (we will never know). I think changing our lifestyle
helped us get pregnant faster and not go through the IVF process. Either way, we are living a
healthier lifestyle. It has made both of us feel better and more alert about what we put in our
bodies and what we will not put in our children’s bodies.

I always recommend buying items where you can read the ingredients and know what is going on
in your body.